My wife has a 06 883L, she had her bike in the indy shop a couple of months ago and had the fork seals replaced due to leakage. We go in on the deal for fork braces, and have come to realize a possible problem. On her forks there is a possible 4 inches travel to collapse. When riding in all sorts of conditions, she compresses the forks 3 1/8, leaving a mear 7/8 for the brace and room to avoid hitting the fender., so untill I know for certain she wont hit the fender, no brace will be put on. I think this is way too close for tolleraces, but I dont know what is the norm. So Im asking you to measure yours and give reports, and what is the possible problem if there is a problem.

 

Fork travel is going to depend on the springs, amount of fork oil and the weight of the fork oil. I change mine around from time to time. If you would like to reduce the amount of travel, get heavier fork oil. You might also check that the correct amount of fork oil was put in, when the seals were replaced.

 

What kind of 'fork braces' are you talking about?
Something like this... http://www.jpcycles.com/product/2300465?
How many miles are on the 06?

The fork seals on my 93 went out at @ 35,000 miles. After I rebuilt them I added one of these, but not because I thought it would add to the life of the seals. I was trying to reduce the 75 mph wiggling through the sweepers out on the interstate. It didn't seem to make much of a difference in the handling and it didn’t look all that good either.

Mine mounted to the top of the lower tube just above the fender and traveled with the fender… not into it, if that helps.

 

braces from superbrace.com. Her bike has 18000 miles, not many by any standards.

 

update..... I took her forks apart tonight, checked the oil level, replaced the oil with belray 15 W fork oil, and put in set of springs from a 1200C with the spring wound tighter for a stiffer spring. Hopes were high until I set the bike back down and she went for a freezing temperature ride and came back with the forks compressing to the same spot. What on earth do I need to do to stiffen it up so it wont comress so far????????????

 

A set of Progressive fork springs should do the trick, and they're relatively inexpensive at ~$80.00.

The Superbrace mounts to the top of the lowers (sliders) so their separation distance from the fender doesn't change.

 

+1 to what SportyPig said, that's really all there is to it.

From a very simple physics standpoint I would say get a stiffer spring; the same travel will need more force. If you have tried everything else, thats what I would think the next logical step would be. And just my personal opinion, 3.125" does not seem that outside of normal travel. It all depends on your ride style. If I have to slam on the brakes or brake down a hill, my front end nearly bottoms out.

 

As mentioned earlier, Progressive springs are recommended. Adding to the preload on the springs also helps reduce fork sag. The original spacers I put in with the Progressives was the same length as the stock spacer.

The front end of the bike sat lower and there was less available fork travel. I increased the length of the spacer by a bit and the front sat higher, thereby increasing the amount of travel available.

 

the superbrace isnt going to worsen your bottoming out...
check out where its mounted:

load the photo and click on it to expand it to see the brace:

http://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php...age&img=754955

 

a set of progressive springs #11-1527 are on order, thats a lot everybody. he photo of the fork brace eased the concerns a whole lot too. Question for wanabe though, what kinda horn is that you have. By chance is that a blaster, and if so where did you get it????